Lance Armstrong versus the New York marathon

I have watched Lance Armstrong for years in his wins at the Tour de France and was interested in the story that he was going to be running the New York marathon with almost no running training. To be sure Lance is in fantastic shape now although I am sure his 180 pounds now is a little fatter and in slightly worse condition then his prime 165 pound cycling weight. Amazing to me is that he was able to run the New York marathon in just under 3 hours.

As a professional cyclist, perhaps the best that ever lived Lance Armstrong was a true competitor that played to his strengths. Lance is good at riding in the mountains although maybe not the best but coupled with his strength in sprints, also not the best in the world and his strategic vision, which is definitely the best in cycling. Running though is a very different sport than cycling and while running Lance Armstrong had a lot of trouble after about and hour and a half or so because his body is finely tuned for a longer endurance at a lower level of effort, I am sure that the energy Lance Armstrong would put out in a regular day at the Tour de France is likely the same as the top marathon runners on Sunday but he would do this in five hours not two hours.

Still, Lance again accomplished an amazing feat. Most vetran runners would not be able to do the New York marathon in under three hours and I beleive that the two things that made the difference between what he did and just giving up after and hour or tow was his cockiness in knowing that he is one of the great athletes of our time and the mental attitude that allowed him to continue well after his body was willing to give up.

Here is some of what was said in a New York Times article about Lance Armstrong and the race:

After his news conference at the New York Athletic Club, he limped out of the room.

Earlier, Armstrong had said that he could possibly have run a sub-2:30 if he had trained, but now he was quite sure that another marathon was out of the question. Nothing in cycling ever came close to three hours of activity at this level, he said.

�I wasn�t kidding when I said that I�ve never felt this bad, ever,� he said. �My legs are killing me. My back doesn�t feel that great, either. I�m really suffering.�

This goes to show that no matter what kind of an athlete that you are there is always something that is going to be difficult. The next crazy thing I would like to see is a marathoner riding the Tour de France and seeing how that would go. Two different disciplines but there are a lot of parallels to training and how to get your head into the sport.

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.